Fallen Angel
by Nick the Raccoon
Summary: Chapter 2: Fallen Angel. Nack and Nic undertake a mission, but something goes terribly wrong.
1. Default Chapter

Fallen Angel  
  
by Nick "frwl" Byrd  
  
Hello again. This is the sequel to my earlier work, Nack's Golden Mistake. Nack,  
  
Robotnic, and Knuckles are all copyright to Service and Games, AKA SEGA. Nic is copyright to Archie.   
  
Turn Back Time's lyrics are copyright to Freedom Call (look them up on google, you'll thank me  
  
later.). Anything else in here was made up by me. This chapter was somewhat inspired by  
  
Virgil's Aeneid: Book 9. Go read it. Feel free to distribute this document to anywhere as  
  
long as you don't change the content in any way and you don't gain/loose money for it!  
  
Yada yada yada, OK, let's start.  
  
Nack stared though the mist. The place looked eerie, but not in a bad way. He  
  
could describe it as almost... peaceful. There was a lot of light, but he couldn't tell where  
  
it was coming from, and neither did he really care. He was looking for something, he  
  
knew that much even though he didn't know exactly what it was. He continued walking  
  
and looking through the haze, eyes slowly searching. Then he saw something... someone.  
  
He walked towards her, trying to get her attention. He found himself waving his arms in  
  
the air and called out. "Mama."  
  
She turned and looked at him, smiling. "Nack!" She walked foreword to meet  
  
him.   
  
"I missed you Mama." He said to her.  
  
She placed her arm around her child. "I know. I missed you to. But..." She paused  
  
for a few seconds, then started back up again, sounding depressed. "It isn't your time to  
  
come home yet."  
  
"I know," Nack said. His mother's words saddened him, although he knew that she  
  
spoke the truth.  
  
"I'm sorry child. But don't worry. You'll see me again soon enough." She looked  
  
him in the eyes with a small smile. "It's time... Goodbye Nack."  
  
Nack watched as his mother's body slowly disappeared into the mist. He sighed,  
  
turned around, and began walking again. The light then turned to darkness, and Nack  
  
found himself lost in it.  
  
Nack's eyes suddenly shot open. He slowly raised himself on his arm and looked  
  
around. Nothing out of the ordinary could be seen around him... His messy room was  
  
dimly lit by the dawn's sunlight coming through his small window. He put his palms to  
  
his face and let himself fall back onto his pillow. He lay there in his bed for a few more  
  
minutes. A dream. Nothing but a dream, though it felt so real. Then threw the covers off  
  
himself and slowly got out of bed.   
  
It was October now. To be precise, it had been exactly ten weeks since he had had  
  
his fall down the mineshaft. To this day he could not see how he survived. But here  
  
he was again, knee deep in life.   
  
Over the past several months, Nack and Nic had found themselves growing  
  
together more. In the past, things were never this way between them. They were usually  
  
rivals, but as of now, they were partners in crime. This was partially due to their  
  
relationship as family, but mostly because their "employers" had lately wanted the two of  
  
them to work as a team to get jobs done. As a result, the two found themselves traveling  
  
together and living in small, low-value places such as the one they were in now. This  
  
caused some troubles between the two, but it was their only option if they wanted the  
  
pay.   
  
Speaking of pay, the two weasels had already found themselves their next bounty  
  
hunt. Well, they didn't really know what the hunt would be yet. But today they would find  
  
out. Ivo Robotnic had planned for Nack to meet him today at a given address. There he  
  
would receive equipment and a briefing. Why he didn't want Nic to come along, Nack  
  
didn't know. Probably just a precautionary thing. One Weasel is more trust-worthy than  
  
two.  
  
Nack walked out of his room and entered the kitchen. He slowly put some bread  
  
in the toaster, put an egg on the grill, and poured himself some juice. After everything  
  
was finished cooking, he set the meal down on the table, pulled up a chair, and sat down.  
  
He sipped on his drink, then turned around when he heard a door open behind him. Nic  
  
walked into the kitchen and looked at Nack. He returned a glance, looked down at his  
  
food, and sighed.  
  
"What's eat'n you?" She asked.  
  
"Nothing. Just a dream..." Nack started, but Nic interrupted.  
  
"Aw... Nackie had a lil nightmare?" she said mockingly.  
  
"No, it wasn't a nightmare. It was about... Mama."  
  
"Oh." Nic quickly hushed her rudeness at that. She knew how much Nack missed  
  
her. Nic missed her too. "What happened?"  
  
"I don't know really. We were talking in some metaphysical state... Ya know,  
  
something like.. heaven maybe?"  
  
"Heaven..." Nic seemed to draw something from that. "Ya really think Mama's  
  
there?"  
  
"I hope so." The two remained silent for several seconds with nothing but the  
  
ticking of a wall mounted clock letting out any noise. This drew Nack's eyes to it. 8:30.  
  
Robotnic hadn't set any given time on the meeting, so he figured that he might as well  
  
leave soon. The earlier the better he supposed. He finished his breakfast, picked up the  
  
phone, and called the taxi service. He gave the address and his name. "15 minutes? Sure,  
  
that'll be fine. Thank you." With that, he hung up the phone.   
  
"So, what did you talk about?" Nic asked suddenly.  
  
It took Nack a second to realize that she wasn't talking about the taxi service, but  
  
was back on the topic of his dream. "I'm not really sure," he started. "She said that it  
  
wasn't my time... that I had to go back. As if I had..." A strange thought arose in his mind.  
  
"As if I had died..." Nic was silent at this. "Ya know, maybe it wasn't really a dream."  
  
"Very... Interesting." Those were the only words that she could say after that. She  
  
then began to make her own breakfast.   
  
Nack then walked back to his room. He took his hat off the wall-mounted hook  
  
and placed it on his head. Then he wrapped his holster around his waist, slung his leather  
  
bag over his shoulder. He then left his room. As he was leaving the building, he turned to  
  
Nic. "I'll be back soon."  
  
A few minutes later, a taxi pulled up in front of the small house. He got in back  
  
and handed the driver a small piece of paper. "Can you take me to that address?"  
  
The driver looked at it, then at Nack, and once more at the piece of paper. "I  
  
guess, but what would ya have to do in tat area?"  
  
"I have a bit of business there." He paused for a second. "Is there something  
  
wrong with that place?"  
  
"Heh, business. Nah, there ain't really anything wrong with the place." The driver  
  
said with a small chuckle. Then the driver sped off.  
  
About 45 minutes later, the driver stopped in front of an old rundown warehouse.  
  
"Dis is it." Nack hadn't expected anything better than this as a meeting place.   
  
"Ya, I guess." Nack gave the driver a few dollars and stepped out of the car. He  
  
watched as the taxi sped away.  
  
Nack walked to the small door that lead to the interior of the warehouse and drew  
  
his laser pistol. He had some bad experiences in places like this before, and he didn't  
  
especially like it that Robotnic said that he wouldn't need a taxi to get home, although he  
  
wouldn't say why. It was some kind of surprise. Great, that made him feel even more  
  
secure. He slowly opened the door and entered the building. Except for a few small spots  
  
where the sunlight shown through the window, it was pitch black in there. "Hello?" he  
  
called out into the darkness.  
  
"Ah, Nack. Welcome." A few dozen lights suddenly flickered on above. The  
  
interior of the warehouse was empty except for a desk about 20 feet in front of him.  
  
Behind that desk sat Robotnic.  
  
Nack looked at Ivo and then searched the rest of the room quickly with his eyes.  
  
Totally empty, until he looked behind him. He saw two bots with laser rifles standing  
  
stock still on either side of the door he had entered. Yep, Robotnic would never let  
  
himself go anywhere without the proper protection. "Well, shall we get to business?"  
  
Nack turned to Ivo. "You said that you had a new mission for me."  
  
"And I do. It will probably take both you and Nic to pull it off." Ivo waved with  
  
his hand to tell the weasel to come to the desk. "Some equipment you might need."  
  
Nack looked at the desk, and was somewhat supprised. He picked up one item of  
  
intrest, a very nice looking pistol. "It is a P99," Robotnic started.  
  
"Why this?" Nack inquired. "What is wrong with my laser?"  
  
"Your mission will have to be a stealth one. Your laser isn't quiet enough to do  
  
this." With that he pulled out a silencer for the gun. "It will be very quiet this way."  
  
Nack screwed the silencer on. "Very nice." He put it in his bag and looked at  
  
some of the other items laid out. Rope, a pair of long knives, some blast caps, and two  
  
dark full-body suits. Robotnic pointed out that the knives would be for Nic. The rope and  
  
blast caps would be used only in order to get around, and the suits would be used because  
  
it was ment to be a night-time mission.  
  
All of these things Nack put in his bag. But one thing was bothering him, what  
  
was the mission?  
  
"You will be infiltrating Angel Island in order to capture the Master Emerald."  
  
Nack seemed somewhat confused by this.   
  
"So, how will we get there?" Robotnic laughed at this.  
  
"Come with me." Ivo stood up and began walking to a door on the other side of  
  
the room, closely followed by his two bodyguards and Nack. They walked through the door  
  
and appeared outside in back of the warehouse. Nack noticed a sheet draped over  
  
something in the clearing. "Go ahead, take a look."  
  
Nack whipped the sheet off of the object and gasped at what he saw. He couldn't  
  
believe it, this was not like Robotnic. There in front of him floated the Marvelous Queen,  
  
Nack's ion powered jetbike. He thought it was trashed, but here it was, better than ever.  
  
"Did... Did you do this?" Nack asked, still in disbelief.   
  
"No, I just said 'Hocus Pocus' and it appeared in midair," Ivo said sarcastically.  
  
Nack laughed at this. For once Robotnic had done something for Nack that he could  
  
really appreciate. "You will notice many new things with your bike. The body of it is now  
  
longer and has two seats, perfect for getting both of you up there. Also..." Ivo hit a button  
  
on the handlebars. A tinted window rose from the sides of the bike. "Bullet-proof. It will  
  
restrict your movement while it is up, but it should be useful to you nonetheless. I also  
  
made it's engine more efficient, quieter, and faster." Nack walked around it slowly,  
  
feasting his eyes on the bike while feeling it's smoothness. "Is it all to your liking?"  
  
"Oh yes... It is truly... Marvelous!" This was not something that Robotnic did  
  
often, never for Nack atleast. Now... "What's the catch?"  
  
"The catch?" Robotnic acted supprised by this. "Well, the 'catch' is that you get  
  
me that Chaos Emerald. The Master Emerald is very powerful... It would have endless  
  
uses in my possession."  
  
"Very well. We will do our best on this mission. And... Thank you."  
  
"It was nothing really. But don't get used to it. As for the mission, it would be  
  
wisest for you to go tomorrow night. It is a new moon then, so it will be very dark. I don't  
  
know where on the Island the Emerald might be, but the innermost sanctum at the center  
  
of the place is your best bet." Robotnic then walked back to the door and entered the  
  
building. "I have nothing else to give in this briefing. Good luck." With that, Ivo  
  
disappeared into the darkness.  
  
Nack mounted the bike. 'Man does it feel good to be back with ya baby!' He hit  
  
the throttle and sped off into the sky.  
  
It only took him 10 or 15 minutes to get back to the house this way. He parked the  
  
bike in front and walked in the door. It really was quieter than before, as when he entered  
  
the house Nic didn't know it. He heard her small boombox playing. Freedom Call, the  
  
same CD that she had bought the day Nack tried invading the gold mine. While he was  
  
recovering from his injuries, Nic played this quite a bit, and he had to admit, for a band  
  
that was so old, their music kinda grew on him, and he liked it. The end of the disk was  
  
playing. "If I could Turn Back Time, ease my desire... It hurts me forever that I lost the  
  
love of my life." It was a good song Nack decided. He then opened her room's door. She  
  
looked at him, suppised by his presence.  
  
"I didn't hear you pull up!"  
  
"Ya know, I hate to admit it, but Robotnic ain't such a screwup after all." He told  
  
her what had happened at the ware house, and gave her the combat knives.  
  
"A stealth mission, huh?" She looked at the knives closely. "These are pretty  
  
nice."  
  
Then he showed her the gun he got. "That looks nice too. Keep it, those are hard  
  
to come around nowadays I hear."   
  
"Tomorrow night. Remember, this is our best shot at this." With that he left the  
  
room.   
  
Night came and went, then morning. The weasels spent the rest of the day getting  
  
ready. Nack went to a firing range and got the feel of the vintage pistol. It took some  
  
doing, but he quickly got used to the recoil from the gun that wasn't there with his laser.  
  
Nic stayed at home, perfecting her close combat skills with the knives, proving that she  
  
could be deadly against a target at close range. Then she practiced her throwing skills.  
  
Those also were fair, but not as sharp as her close quarters battling.   
  
Night came. 9:30, it was dark enough. The two weasels slipped on their stealth  
  
suits. It was an aquard feeling to be in them, but they figured that they could get around  
  
in them.   
  
They mounted the bike and rode off into the sky. He had figured the current locus  
  
of the Island on an electronic map, and found it to be due north of their house. They sped  
  
in the island's direction at an incredible speed that the Marvelous Queen wouldn't have  
  
been able to do before Ivo repaired it. Within a few minutes, Nack could see Angel Island  
  
on the horizon. He was glad that it was a clear dark night, as many small lights dotted the  
  
island giving it's location away. He dropped altitude and continued at his speed. As he  
  
approached, he slowed down. Within a few minutes, he was able to land on a  
  
somewhat secluded part of the Island. He covered the bike with some tree branches so no  
  
one would find it. "Let's go," he whispered to Nic.   
  
The two weasels found themselves slipping from shadow to shadow, keeping  
  
totally invisible to the few islanders that were still out at this late hour at night. Many  
  
torches cast several sharp shadows on many parts of the streets, so getting around was  
  
simply a waiting game for the weasels.  
  
Within an hour, the two of them found the entrance to the temple at the center of  
  
the island. The inside was lit much more than the outside areas of the echidna  
  
civilization, but this was their only way through. They ran as quickly and quietly as  
  
possible through the hallways, often having to hide around sharp corners from some of  
  
the echidnas walking the halls. This operation went well at first, but then their mission  
  
came to it's first major hitch.  
  
The two rounded a corner without checking around it, and their eyes met with a  
  
smaller echidna at the very middle of the hall. All three stood still, each caught off guard.  
  
The weasels knew that they had to do something. Nack pulled out his silenced P99 but  
  
kept it aimed low. The child stood statue, paralyzed with fear. "Don't worry," Nic said to  
  
the echidna as the two of them slowly walked towards him, keeping her voice ironically  
  
in the most calm, motherly voice she could muster. "We don't want to hurt you."  
  
Nack could sense it. Flight or flight, epinephrine and norepinephrine pumped  
  
through the child's body, and Nack could tell, the boy was thinking of flight. He suddenly  
  
lunged at the child and clapped his hand over the boy's mouth not a spit second to soon to  
  
catch his scream. But the scuffle did cause some noise, and he heard someone coming.  
  
The weasels looked around them, beginning to panic themselves. They then carried the  
  
child around the corner which was small and dark luckily. They sat there for several  
  
seconds, heard some footsteps pass by their hiding place. They had gone undetected. But  
  
the boy.... What to do!  
  
They both thought for several seconds. It would be wrong to kill him. They  
  
couldn't, it wasn't fair. But they couldn't just let them go, or they were over. Then Nack  
  
turned to Nic. "I have an idea." He looked at her for a few seconds, as if still thinking of  
  
something. Then he took the butt of the pistol and whipped the child in the lower neck.  
  
The boy fell limp on the floor. "He will awake within a few minutes, don't worry, he'll be  
  
fine."  
  
The two left the knocked out boy in the darkness and continued their run. They  
  
had to be fast, the had to find that Emerald before they were found out.  
  
A few minutes later, the two emerged from the halls to a large room with no  
  
ceiling. Many pillars lined the outside of the area. The walls were wonderfully decorated.  
  
This had to be the shrine of the Master Emerald, but where was it? The two searched for  
  
a minute or so, and then Nic caught a sight that pushed her hopes as low as she was from  
  
the Emerald. "Nack... Look." She pointed up.  
  
Nack also felt despair. At the center of the temple was a tall pillar, and on that  
  
pillar, about 30 or 40 feet off the ground, sat the Master Emerald. How were they  
  
supposed to get it? Then it dawned on Nack. The rope. He pulled it out and looked at it.  
  
It looked pretty long, hopefully long enough to loop around the Emerald. He made a large  
  
loop out of the rope and gave it to Nic. "Ya think you can get it?"  
  
Then utter despair reared it's ugly head. A loud horn blazed through the silent  
  
night. They had been found out. "Durn it!" Nack ran for the exit. He didn't know how he  
  
would be able to escape without being caught, but he had to try. Where there was life,  
  
there was hope, right? He cocked the pistol and turned around, but instead of seeing Nic  
  
close behind him it appeared that she had other ideas. She threw the rope up and missed,  
  
recovered it, and was about to throw it again. "Don't leave!" she pleaded. Nack knew she  
  
was ambitious, but this seemed extreme.  
  
"We can't!"  
  
"Cover me!" She wasn't going to leave the mission. He quickly ran behind a pillar  
  
and hid in the shadow. Then he heard a masculine yell down the hall. The voice of an  
  
angered echidna that Nack had delt with before. Knuckles, the Master Emerald's  
  
Guardian. Then, he entered the room at the entrance at the opposite side of which the  
  
weasels had come through.  
  
"Stop!" Knuckles yelled at Nic. She pulled one of her knives out and pulled back  
  
for the throw, but her nervous hands slipped and dropped the knife several feet from her  
  
grasp. The group of echidnas with Knuckles began coming towards her. Then to  
  
everyone's surprise, a female echidna near the front of the formation collapsed to the  
  
ground, limp. A pool of blood formed on the ground by her head. Everyone was  
  
confused, even Nic slightly. Nack took aim again. The bullet pierced the ribcage of  
  
another echidna standing next to Knuckles. She fell to the ground, clutching her side and  
  
gasping out in pain.  
  
"Enough!" No one knew where the shots were coming from. Knuckles ran  
  
foreword to Nic. She pulled out her other knife and took a swing at his head, but he  
  
slammed her arm in midswing and sent the knife flying. He grabbed the weasel by the  
  
collar of her suit and drew his fist back...  
  
Nack saw this and dropped his weapon in the view of every one. "No! don't hurt  
  
her! It isn't her fault! Stop!"   
  
Some say actions speak louder than words. Knuckles heard his fellow echidnas  
  
hit the ground when shot, he heard them trying to steal the Emerald. But Nack's words  
  
went unheard. His spiked knuckle slammed into Nic's midsection. She let out a small cry  
  
of pain, then bent over. Knuckles looked at her as she fell to the ground. Then he looked  
  
to Nack. "She will pay the penalty for your sins." With that he left the room. The  
  
remaining echidnas split up, one half taking the corpse out of the area, the other half  
  
helping the wounded one. Nack ran to his sister. He saw the point where the spikes had  
  
pierced her.  
  
"Don't worry Nic, I'll save you. We can fix this... If we are fast." He picked up the  
  
wounded weasel's body and ran for the exit. But before he got there, a series of bars  
  
blocked the threshold. "Hey! Open up!" He cried. But nothing happened.  
  
"N... Nack..." Nic raised her head, with a bit of difficulty.  
  
"No! don't move, you need to keep your energy..."  
  
"There is no way out."  
  
No! This couldn't happen, his sister couldn't die. He couldn't let it be... but they  
  
were trapped.  
  
"Sis..." He looked at her. She was breathing heavily. Her wound slowly bleed, but  
  
he couldn't stop it. He tried for a few minutes, then he looked through the bars to see a  
  
few echidna's standing there, one silently crying, tears wetting the floor. "Please! open the  
  
gates! I can save her, she doesn't deserve this! You don't know what this is like!"  
  
"I do." The one crying echidna stepped foreword. "My sister was with Knuckles  
  
when he came to get you..."  
  
Nack didn't know what to say. "Please! I will sacrifice myself if I have to! This  
  
isn't fair! She didn't hurt noone!" But they just shook their heads. "Please! If it weren't for  
  
her, I would be dead! I died once, but her quickness brought me back to life, I owe it to  
  
her."   
  
Then one of the other echidnas passed a small cup through the bars. "Have her  
  
drink this. It will ease her pain." Nack looked at the drink. He slowly took the cup and  
  
looked at Nic. She was in pain. He put the cup to her lips. Then he wept. He wanted to  
  
comfort her somehow. Why had he gone on this mission? Why had he chosen such a  
  
violent path? If he could undo it, turn back time...  
  
He looked in to her eyes. "I...If I could turn back time... ease my desire..." He  
  
stopped. "I'm sorry sis..."  
  
Suddenly he heard a guitar being slowly plucked from behind him. He turned to  
  
see one of the echidnas strumming the guitar to a familiar beat. "You may want to go on,"  
  
a somewhat elderly echidna said to Nack. "Song may be even more comforting to her  
  
than the drink." Nack slowly nodded to the suggestion.  
  
He listened as the guitar finished the intro.  
  
"This is a song of sadness  
  
Rhymes of pain,  
  
The sounds of my tragedy  
  
Out in the rain"  
  
There was no wind in the temple, but Nack's tears fell as great raindrops.  
  
"I made my way, and left you alone  
  
I had denied you to be on my own."  
  
Nack thought about that. Most of their lives had they been rivals, hardly ever crossing  
  
paths...  
  
"While the years are passing by  
  
The flame's still burning inside.  
  
I'll still remember when you and I,  
  
Our love, it will never die."  
  
It was true. Nic was the only one that Nack truly was able to love in life, she was his only  
  
family. Sure, there was Crystal and Calia, but his sister currently had more of an  
  
influence in his life than anyone else.  
  
"If I could Turn Back Time,  
  
Ease my desires  
  
I'll always remember the sadness  
  
I've seen in your eyes."  
  
He looked at her eyes. She too was crying. But it didn't seem like those eyes of hers were  
  
in pain... A few of the echidnas then joined in, forming a small chorus.  
  
"I call for the master,  
  
I'm calling his name.  
  
Mysterious laughter  
  
tortures my brain."  
  
There was no laughter, and what master could help them anyways? Nack didn't  
  
understand this line yet.  
  
"Stories of sadness,  
  
Stories of pain,  
  
I'm tellin' my tales  
  
to the wind and the rain."  
  
This truly was a sad and painful thing for everyone around.  
  
"All the dreams I have in my mind  
  
I was doin' whatever I liked.  
  
I still remember when you and I  
  
Our love, it will never die."  
  
Would that be all he had left of his sister now? Only memories? He took off his gloves  
  
and felt her head, her nice braids, her soft fur... It wasn't fair that she was dying like this  
  
He hadn't spen enough time with her... she was so young... too young to die. Why had they  
  
fought?  
  
"Turn Back Time,  
  
Ease my desire  
  
I'll always remember  
  
The sadness I've seen  
  
in your eyes.  
  
If I could Turn Back the Time,  
  
Relieve my desire,  
  
It hurts me forever  
  
That I lost the love of my life."  
  
He paused as the guitarist played the beautiful bridge of the song. If Nack could turn back  
  
time. He would have never brought her along, would have never accepted the mission,  
  
not for any amount of money, this was a bounty hunt in which he was loosing more than  
  
success.  
  
"Turn Back Time  
  
Ease my desire.  
  
I always remember  
  
The sadness I've  
  
seen in your eyes.  
  
If I could Turn Back the Time  
  
Relieve my desire.  
  
It hurts me forever  
  
that I lost the love of my life.  
  
If I could Turn Back the Time  
  
Relieve my desire.  
  
It hurts me forever  
  
that I lost the love of my life."  
  
With that, the only sound in the temple was the sound of the guitarist playing the last bit  
  
of the song. Then it ended. Silence.  
  
"I'm sorry sis. This is my fault."  
  
"I...It's like you said." Nic looked up into Nack's wet eyes and managed to smile.  
  
"Dying... It isn't that bad..."   
  
Nack tried to smile back at her. "I would give anything to undo this."  
  
Nic coughed, choking on her tears. Nack looked at her bloody wound. Why this  
  
way? Why did she have to be the one bleeding here on the ground? "I... I think it's time to  
  
go Nack." She became somewhat limp, but continued talking. "Would ya like it... if I told  
  
mama 'Hi' from you?"  
  
"S... sure." Nack looked back at her. He couldn't say much more, his voice was  
  
choked.  
  
"OK," she softly said, now closing her eyes. "I love you... Goodbye, brother." She  
  
went limp then, gripped by death.  
  
"Bye." With that, Nack lifted his head to the heavens, along with her name in  
  
agony.  
  
The night was endless. Silence, save a few sobs from Nack, dominated the entire  
  
island. Morning finally came. Then he came to see Nack. He looked at the poor weasel.  
  
His hand was on Nic's lifeless forehead, and his head was held downcast. The bars  
  
blocking the doors were lowered, and Nack felt a hand gently rest itself on his shoulder.  
  
Nack looked up to see who it was who had come in. Knuckles looked him in the eyes.  
  
Bloodshot, the weasel hadn't slept, but rather wept the night away. He was a pitiful sight,  
  
his hand had dried blood on it, his facial hair was matted down with the tears that had  
  
dried up. "You killed them both..." He finaly managed to say.  
  
"Why?" That was the only word that left Nack's lips as he looked back to his sister.  
  
"It was a split second decision," Knuckles started. "You were acting so wrong.  
  
You broke so many of our laws... You killed two people I cared for..."  
  
"There," Nack spoke out suddenly. "It was MY fault, Nic... she was so innocent..."  
  
"She paid your price-"  
  
"No! She paid my price too many times before! She brought me back from the  
  
dead even, and now she is there because of something I did!"  
  
"Calm down!" The echidna grabbed Nack firmly by the sleeve of his suit which  
  
he still had on. "Come now, you need to get some sleep." With that Knuckles handed  
  
Nack his gloves and slowly lead him off to a small hut just outside of the temple where  
  
Nack was able to get some very restless sleep.  
  
Two days passed. Nack stood alone in the Angel Island cemetery. Three graves sat  
  
infront of him. He just wanted to die, to be reunited with his family. He sighed and let a  
  
tear drop from his face to the grave which the echidnas had given to her. He gave one last  
  
look to the Master Emerald's temple, then walked to the edge of the island and recovered  
  
the Marvelous Queen. It didn't seem so "Marvelous" anymore. He sighed, mounted the  
  
bike, and soared back down to Mobius.  
  
A week passed. Then a month. Nack had fallen apart, everyone could see it. Nack  
  
turned to drinking. He felt that somehow this would help things, but it only made things  
  
worse. When he wasn't drinking, he was at home, reclused. While he was there, he didn't  
  
have the will to even open the door to Nic's room.  
  
Nack had few missions after this, and each one he failed. It wasn't that they were  
  
hard missions, but he simply didn't have the will to give his all like he had earlier. Then  
  
Robotnic told him that he had a new mission.  
  
He found himself back in the same warehouse that he had been in just a few  
  
weeks earlier. Robotnic looked at him. His facial hair had grown out wildly,  
  
uncontrolled. His hat was torn and dirty from the times when he had failed his recent  
  
missions and was beaten by those who caught him. His fang was just about the only thing  
  
about him that hadn't changed.  
  
"I'm glad you could make it." Then the door that he came through slammed shut,  
  
sending a loud echo through the building. Nack turned to see 4 or 5 bots standing there  
  
with laser rifles pointed at him. A metal barrier shot up around the desk which Ivo sat  
  
behind. "You see Nack, lately you have cost me more than I have been getting from you.  
  
You have become worthless to me, and that makes you highly disposable."   
  
Nack slowly turned to where Robotnic sat. "So, this is what this meeting is about?  
  
My death..." A familiar fire lit in the weasel's eyes. His voice was restrengthened. "Well,  
  
then I will stick with my family's custom, I won't go down without a fight..."  
  
With that, Nack, in one swift fluid motion turned to the bots, pulled the laser from  
  
his holster, and fired, shredding the thick metallic head of the center bot. But before he  
  
could shoot again, the warehouse rang with the sound of the bots firing. This continued  
  
for several seconds, then suddenly stopped.   
  
Nack stood there for several more seconds, then dropped the laser to the ground  
  
with an audible clang. With a gasp he fell to his knees. Then he drew a hard breath into  
  
his blasted body. "May you forever know... One less shot..." He fell on his belly to the  
  
ground. "And I would have won..." He lay there in a large pool of his own blood. In a  
  
final whisper... "Nic... Mama... I'm coming..."  
  
Robotnic stood up from his desk and walked out the back door, followed by his  
  
bots, with no intention of ever having to deal with the body again.  
  
The end.  
  
OK... Now I know what you all are thinking... didn't I say that this will have at least  
  
THREE parts? Then what am I doing killing off poor old Nackie like this? Oh... Just  
  
wait. I still have big plans for him...  
  
Send all flowers, e-candy, viri, and criticism to nbyrd@almaheights.org or to my AIM  
  
address, WLBYRD.  
  
Next chapter:  
  
I Call for the Master 


	2. Nic's Perspective

Fallen Angel  
  
Subchapter 2  
  
Nic's Perspective  
  
Author's notes: Please read Fallen Angel subchapter 1 before reading this. Do it! for the weasels!  
  
There is a spoiler for Chapter 8: Rain of a Thousand Flames at the end of this s-chapter. If you hate  
  
spoilers, don't read it! I added spoiler tags for ya...  
  
There is also a foreshadow of Chapter 10: Dawn of Victory in here somewhere... you probably won't  
  
find it... remember this sub chapter, and after reading chapter 10, come back, read this, and PH34R  
  
my 1337 WR1771N9 5K1llZ... um... no, I'm not that 1337...  
  
To the fic!  
  
~Nick "frwl" Byrd  
  
Death-day's eve; two and a half months after Nack's "little accident" in the mines. He had  
  
healed up well, though it was quite annoying to me to have to help him with every little thing that  
  
came up. But, like I said, it was worth it that he was alive.  
  
His rustling around in the kitchen woke me up. I picked myself up out of bed and made my  
  
way to the kitchen. When I got there, Nack gave me a depressed little look and sighed. "What's eat'n  
  
you?" I yawned as he began playing with his food a bit.  
  
"Nothing," he returned. "Just a dream..."  
  
"Aw, Nackie had a lil' nightmare?" I interrupted with a laugh.  
  
"No, it wasn't a nightmare. It was about... Mama."  
  
"Oh." I was done playing with him for then. Our mama, Mary Weasel... She was the  
  
sweetest woman you'd ever seen or heard of. She had only made one mistake, and that was who she  
  
chose as her husband. Tecumseh, who Nack got his middle name from, was very abusive to all of us.  
  
I always wondered if there was ever love in him; one could never make a real call on that since he  
  
was usually drunk... that is until it was too late for it to matter for me. Mama would always do her  
  
best to shield us from his fierceness, often resulting in her getting beat up. We couldn't have made it  
  
along if she were any less than the perfect mother... But I'll always remember the day she died... Nack  
  
and I were only eight years old, and it was so sudden...  
  
***  
  
"Mama," I cried softly as I stood at the side of her deathbed. I didn't know what else to say. I  
  
knew that there was so much that had to be said, but we could tell that there was so little time.  
  
"It's ok," she said with a smile that pierced through her pain. "My baby, my Nicolette, it's ok.  
  
You know, we all have our times. I may die tonight, but we'll see each other again one day..."  
  
"But I won't be able to wait!" I cried, "Please don't leave us! Don't die..."  
  
"Shh... Don't worry, the Lord will be with you, and that's more than I could ever do for you  
  
in my earthly body... And remember that, when I'm 'gone,' I'll still be with you." All I could do was  
  
nod. Then she continued: "And you'll still have Nack. I know that if you two stick together that you'll  
  
be fine. Even though he's your big brother, watch out for him. In a way, you are like his big sister!"  
  
She laughed for a few seconds, then let out a painful, raspy cough. I could hardly look at her, it was  
  
so painfully odd to see her laying there, dying, when all my life, up to this very hour, she had been so  
  
full of life.  
  
"I'm sorry," she started again in a more solemn tone. "I would love to talk to you more, but I  
  
don't have time enough to now. It's Nack's turn... I love you Nic..."  
  
"I love you, Mama!" I cried as I took her hand and held it for a few seconds. She slowly  
  
pulled it away from me and, just as I was about to leave, wiped a tear from my cheek with the back of  
  
her index finger...  
  
***  
  
They said that she died in front of Nack's very eyes that night. I don't know how he could  
  
have lived through that, I didn't know how I could go on after my conversation with her. It did totally  
  
change his personality though. Ever since the funeral, which he did not take well, the topic of Mama  
  
was very sensitive to him; that dream he had must have touched him in some way. "What  
  
happened?" I asked.  
  
"I don't know really. We were talking in some metaphysical state... ya know, something  
  
like... heaven maybe?"  
  
"Heaven..." I thought about that. It made sense, why would she be elsewhere? "Ya really  
  
think Mama's there?"  
  
Nack downed a mouthful of toast and eggs before answering, "I hope so." Boy, did I hope so  
  
too. I stood there quietly as Nack called for a taxi. He needed to meet with Eggman so we could be  
  
ready for our next mission. I would have driven him there, but Ivo said that Nack was to come alone.  
  
"So, what did you talk about?" I asked as he hung the phone up.  
  
"Hmm?" he hummed with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, yeah... I'm not really sure... She said that it  
  
wasn't my 'time;' that I had to go back... As if I..." He paused for a second, running his tongue on the  
  
back of his fang, as he had just some sort of revelation. "As if I had died..." What do you say to that? I  
  
don't know, so I kept my mouth shut. But one can put two and two together. "Y'know? maybe it  
  
WASN'T a dream..."  
  
"Very... interesting..." Well, those words of mine didn't amount to much more than a drop in  
  
the ocean, but they did reflect how I felt: interested. Nack left me alone then as he got ready for his  
  
briefing with Eggman, so I made myself some breakfast. It didn't amount to much more than a bowl  
  
of cold cereal, but it does keep a body running.   
  
So I locked myself in my room while Nack left. I flipped my boombox on to listen to my CD,  
  
Eternity, while I lay on my bed as I tossed a small rubber ball up at the ceiling, seeing how close I  
  
could get without touching it. But I was still thinking about Mama... So Nack got to speak with her  
  
face to face? "Lucky," I said outloud to myself. "When will I get my turn again?" I had no idea...  
  
By and by I got to thinking about or new mission. Eggman always means big missions, and  
  
he was pulling both of us in on this one? He must have been planning something big, but he didn't  
  
hint on what it was yet.  
  
The end of the CD was playing... Best song on the disk: Turn Back Time. I couldn't help but  
  
sing with them, and I guess I was pretty into it cause I didn't know that Nack was home until I heard  
  
him knocking on my door. "I didn't hear you pull up!"  
  
"Ya know," he started, walking into my room and placing his bag on my bed (which, under  
  
normal circumstances, would have been certain death for him). "I hate to admit it, but Robotnic ain't  
  
such a screwup after all." He explained everything to me, the mission, the objective, his jetbike's  
  
enhancements... indeed, this was a large mission.  
  
"A stealth mission?" I looked the blades over. Double edged and dagger tipped... not your  
  
ordinary dining utensil. "These are pretty nice." Then he showed me his weapon. I was a bit jealous,  
  
as he had a Walther P99, known worldwide as the pistol of a very famous M16 Double-0 agent.  
  
"That's nice too. Keep it, those are hard to come around nowadays I hear."  
  
"Tomorrow night. Remember, this is our best shot at this." So he left my room. I spent a bit  
  
of that day and all of the next day practicing with my new knives. With my throwing, I could get  
  
pretty close to a target, but I could never hit the mark perfectly. That never was my best combat  
  
situation; I preferred to get in nice and close to a target and then get to the point.  
  
"Does this make me look fat?" I asked Nack, stepping out into the warm Texas air, fully  
  
decked out in the stealth suit that Ivo got for me.  
  
"This isn't a fashion show," he said dully as he took a seat on the Queen. I sat behind him  
  
and we sped off. "Don't joke, we have to be careful this mission. The echidnas of that Island are so  
  
dangerous..." I didn't need him to tell me that.  
  
It didn't take us long to land on the Island once we found it. Quite a sight really; for such an  
  
advanced culture, their tribal customs kept the place fun just looking at it. After hiding the bike, we  
  
ran quickly and quietly from shadow to shadow, avoiding the many eyes of the island. We would  
  
have to wait for minutes on end at times until the coast was clear, so what would have taken us  
  
maybe twenty minutes to go through took over an hour. But rest assured, we made it to the temple.  
  
Being inside didn't make the mission any easier. Sentinels walked the halls and kept a close  
  
watch. There were several close calls, but we managed to go a good while before anyone caught on to  
  
us.  
  
We rounded that one corner just too fast. Some kid was roaming the halls and spotted us, but  
  
he didn't know what to do. Heck, I didn't know what to do, and neither did Nack. But when you are  
  
on a mission, you don't act like you don't know what you are doing or else you are done for sure; you  
  
always let on that you are the smartest one around for a good twenty miles. So, I did what came to  
  
mind first. "Don't worry," I started softly, "We don't want to hurt you..." Nack and I were slowly  
  
walking towards the echidna, but he had his eyes fixed on Nack, as he was showing the only weapon,  
  
that durn P99.  
  
We were about ten feet away from the kid when he shifted his weight; it was obvious that he  
  
was gonna bolt. Nack leapt forwards and clapped his hand over the boy's mouth; perfect timing cause  
  
that kid would have screamed his head off right then. Well, he was trying to anyways, and making  
  
quite a bit of noise. Without much thought, we pulled him into a dark corner and sat there untill the  
  
sentinels passed. So what did we do with the kid? No, we didn't kill him, though that would have  
  
been very easy. We did the next best thing and left him knocked out cold in the shadows.  
  
We doubled our pace from there; for all we knew, the kid would wake up any second and  
  
compromise our mission. We really didn't need to go all that much faster though, cause in a few  
  
minutes we were there. There was no doubt about it, the room was so well decorated. We entered the  
  
northern side of the room and another gate was at the southern side. Both of the eastern and western  
  
walls were lined with pillars, and at the very center of it all was a single large pillar. We looked  
  
around for a while, stumped as to where the Emerald could be. It didn't take me long to realize what  
  
the central pillar was for, though. I looked up, and sure enough, there was the Master Emerald.  
  
"Nack, look!" I pointed the Emerald out to him.  
  
"Great..." he moaned, scratching his head. He thought for a few seconds before pulling out  
  
some rope from his bag and making a loop out of it. "Do ya think you can get it?" he asked as he  
  
handed me the rope, but I didn't have time to respond as something stuck out at the corner of my  
  
vision. Movement in the upper corner of the room, a flashing red light... I told you that the echidnas  
  
of Angel Island weren't a low-tech group, and we were fools to think that there wouldn't be a security  
  
camera somewhere nearby.  
  
A loud alarm blew through the night air. Cursing under his breath, Nack turned and ran for  
  
the exit, but I stood my ground. "Cover me!" I shouted to him, determined to get that Emerald. I  
  
tossed the rope up once and missed. As I pulled the rope back to me, I looked back to see that Nack  
  
wasn't there. I honestly thought that he had abandoned me. 'Fine!' I thought, 'That makes double the  
  
pay for me and none for him!'  
  
I didn't get a second chance to throw the rope. A small group of echidnas entered the  
  
southern gate of the room, lead by none other than Knuckles himself. "Stop!" he yelled at me.  
  
That echidna had cause me so much trouble in the past. At the time, it would have been my  
  
pleasure to kill him, so I tried. I threw the rope down and pulled out my combat knives. They were  
  
still too far away, so I decided to throw a knife at them. It would have worked... that is if I didn't drop  
  
it when pulling back for the throw.   
  
Suddenly, as the group was running to me, a pink echidna dropped dead to the floor. "No!"  
  
Knux yelled, stooping down for a second to try to help her. Then a second echidna dropped. It was  
  
then that I knew that Fang the Sniper was still with me. Upon seeing his comrades fall, sniped and  
  
killed (at least one dead so far), Knuckles ran at me with a shout of pure rage. As he came in range, I  
  
took a swing at him with my final knife. He blocked me perfectly; it felt like someone had hit my arm  
  
with a baseball bat, but, at the same time, there was numbness. I tried to shake it off and take another  
  
swing, but the knife was gone; I guess I dropped it. Before I could do anything, I found myself  
  
suspended in air by Knuckles' arm while he held me by the collar of my stealth suit. I could tell that it  
  
I didn't do something right then and there that I was going to be killed. I managed to land one kick on  
  
him, just a few inches above his groin.   
  
Nack was waving and shouting at Knuckles, telling him to drop me and fight him instead.  
  
Knuckles recovered from my kick and finished me. One punch with his spiked knuckles strait to my  
  
midsection... Body armor wouldn't have helped me. It was like being rammed and stabbed at the  
  
same time; the pain was unbelievable. I tried to stand when Knuckles let me go, but it seemed  
  
impossible, and I fell. Besides my own gasps of pain, the only thing I heard was Knuckles' voice: "She  
  
will pay for your sins."  
  
Nack ran to my side. "Nic! Don't worry Nic! I'll save you. We can fix this, if we are fast..."  
  
He picked me up and headed for the exit, but before we got there, metal bars shot up, blocking the  
  
doorways at both ends of the temple. "Hey! Open up, durn it!"  
  
"N... Nack!" I tried crying out to him in my pain, but he silenced me from continuing.  
  
He ran put me down and ran over to the bars. He put some of his blastcaps on the bars and  
  
stood back. They detonated but left not so much as a mark on the bars. "There is no way out," I cried  
  
out.  
  
"Sis..." He looked at me, and I could see that he was crying. He tried to stop my bleeding, but  
  
he couldn't. It was then that we both realized that we were being watched from behind the bars.  
  
"Please!" he pleaded, running up to the bars. "Open the gates! I can save her! She doesn't deserve  
  
this... You have no idea what this is like..."  
  
"I do," one of the echidnas answered. "My sister was with Knuckles when he came to get  
  
you..." I felt sick to my stomach. It really was my fault that they were killed; if I had done the right  
  
thing and run, this wouldn't have happened at all.  
  
"Please!" Nack continued, "I will sacrifice myself if I have to! This isn't fair, she didn't hurt  
  
noone!" They didn't accept his offer, but I couldn't believe what he said. He would really sacrifice  
  
himself for me? How could anyone care so much? Nack proved himself to be a true big brother then...  
  
He pleaded a third time. "If it weren't for her, I would be dead! I did die once, but her  
  
quickness, her care brought me back to life, I owe it to her!"  
  
"Nack," I called out, raising my head up a bit through the pain. "I didn't save you so that you  
  
would pay it back later."  
  
Nack was about to respond to that, but one of the echidnas broke in. "I can't offer much...  
  
Have her drink this, it will ease her pain..." Nack walked over and came back with a small cup. I  
  
drank it; it had some sort of drug in it but I couldn't tell what it was, but within a few seconds, the  
  
pain didn't seem so bad.  
  
"Sis, I am so sorry..."  
  
"Why are you sorry?" I asked. "This isn't your fault, I should have listened..."  
  
"I shouldn't have accepted this mission! I should have known that it was a bad idea..." He  
  
paused a moment and cried quietly. "If... If I could turn back time... ease my desire..." He was trying  
  
to sing to me, but he couldn't through his tears... until one of the echidnas began playing a guitar to  
  
the exact tune of Turn Back Time... Told ya the echidnas were smart; they too know good music  
  
when they hear it.  
  
So Nack sang, and it seemed so appropriate. His made the song sweeter than I had ever  
  
heard before. I did wish that he could turn back time, but at the time I thought it was impossible.  
  
"I'm sorry sis, this is all my fault," Nack said as the song was finished.   
  
"It's like you said," I began, looking up to him, smiling one last time. I knew that this was it, I  
  
could feel my life departing. "Dying, it isn't that bad."  
  
He smiled back down at me. "But I would give anything to undo it."  
  
I started to cry again. It was times like these that made me want to stay with Nack more  
  
than ever. He wasn't a heartless assassin like everyone said. He killed innocent people sometimes,  
  
true, but when you look at his own death, how he killed even when dying himself, he knew when  
  
killing would be the right choice. But he wasn't perfect, and maybe he did make the wrong choice this  
  
time, and he understood that. When someone who seems cold shows love in such manifest, it feels  
  
like there is more in him than there ever was in a person. "I think it's time to go, Nack," I said softly.  
  
"Would you like it if... if I told Mama 'Hi' from you?"  
  
"Sure," Nack whispered.  
  
"Ok... I love you... Goodbye, big brother."  
  
So I died, right then and there. It's only in that instant that you figure out the good in dying...  
  
the almost overwhelming peace that transcends all other emotions that were with you in your 'final'  
  
moments...  
  
The next thing I knew, I was standing next to Nack, watching him mourn over my corrupted  
  
and empty body. But I could see more since I was in my true form, because, there with her hand on  
  
Nack's shoulder was Mama! "It's ok, my Felix, you'll see." Then she turned to me. "If only he knew  
  
how alive we really are!"  
  
I smiled back: "You're right." But then I looked at Nack again; he was miserable and in so  
  
much pain. I placed my hand on his other shoulder. He was drawing strength from us. "I guess I'll  
  
always be with you, too, Nack."  
  
***  
  
So how do I know how all of this happened? True, Nicholas fulfilled Nack's request and  
  
turned back time, and I couldn't recall any of it when I was "alive" afterwards. But certain things are  
  
revealed to you when you are out of your earthly body...  
  
*****spoiler start*****  
  
I stood there in that room back in my hometown of Houston, July 2039, holding the gun to  
  
my body. My husband, my brother, my father, and my teenaged children, along with Nick... they  
  
watched me from across the room.   
  
"Put my gun down!" Nick yelled at me, not with anger, but with concern.   
  
"Yeah, listen Sis!" Nack followed up.  
  
"Don't do it, listen to me for once as your father," Tecumseh continued.  
  
"Please, Nicolette!" Andre pleaded. "It doesn't have to end this way, I'm sure that there is  
  
some way we can help..."  
  
"No! Don't you know that there is no other cure for my condition?" I cried out through my  
  
dual fangs. "You don't know what it's like to be one minute sane and the next driven insane by those  
  
evil forces!"  
  
"Is it worth suicide?" Nick asked calmly, taking a few steps forward. I aimed and fired over  
  
his shoulder, making him shrink back.  
  
"Mama, please!" Malik cried out. "I don't want you to die this way!"  
  
"I'm sorry, my dear," I said softly to my firstborn, "I know how you must feel... I lost your  
  
grandma when I was even younger than you..."  
  
"Mama didn't commit suicide, Nic!" Nack yelled at me. What could I say? He WAS right  
  
about that.  
  
Gracie broke in: "But what if the curses were uplifted when this evil war is over? Wouldn't  
  
that be worth it?"  
  
"The war won't be over until I am dead," I explained, "THIS is the ONLY WAY to end this  
  
curse..."  
  
"Please, Nicolette!" Andre called out, "This... killing yourself... you know that it isn't the  
  
right thing to do..."  
  
"Then to live is the right thing? Don't you know? To do the 'right' thing when you know that  
  
it will only work out more trouble and evil is the worst of wrongs... And I don't want to kill myself; I  
  
am doing this to destroy the evil that has been planted in me before it corrupts others..."  
  
"My Nicolette..." Daddy started, but cut himself off when he finally realized that he couldn't  
  
convince me otherwise. After bringing the brim of his hat down and hiding his eyes, he turned and  
  
left the room with the following words: "I pray that we will meet again someday... under better  
  
circumstances... in a better world."  
  
"Nic," Andre began, tears streaming down his face. "I swear that I will avenge you or die  
  
trying."  
  
"Thank you..." Andre finally found bravery after the worst of his nightmares came true... I  
  
hoped at the time that he was right about avenging me... "Everyone, I thank you for being my friends  
  
and family. It's time to end the spread of this curse before it starts though, and once I am free from the  
  
curse... I will always be with you."  
  
I turned the gun to my heart and pulled the trigger.  
  
*****spoiler end*****  
  
But don't you dare think I was done yet...  
  
Next subchapter:  
  
I Call for the Master  
  
Nack's direct perspective 


End file.
